On February 3, 2020, the United States Sentencing Commission released a report titled U.S. Sentencing Commission First Step Act of 2018 Resentencing Provisions Retroactivity Report. The data in this report represents information concerning motions for a reduced sentence pursuant to Section 404 of the First Step Act which the courts have granted. The data in this report reflects all motions granted through December 31, 2019 and for which court documentation was received, coded, and edited at the Commission by January 29, 2020.
Section 404 of the First Step Act provides that any defendant sentenced before the effective date of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 (August 3, 2010) who did not receive the benefit of the statutory penalty changes made by that Act is eligible for a sentence reduction as if Sections 2 and 3 of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 were in effect at the time the offender was sentenced. Those provisions of the Fair Sentencing Act increased the drug quantities for mandatory-minimum penalties for crack offenses and eliminated the 5-year mandatory-minimum for simple possession of crack.
The Training Division provides podcasts, webinars, and materials about the First Step Act, as well as other sentencing resource materials here that will help you argue for the best sentence possible for your clients.